REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Sept. 22, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Codexis, Inc. (Nasdaq:CDXS), a leading developer of biocatalysts for the pharmaceutical and fine chemical industries, today announced the appointment of Kathleen Sereda Glaub to its board of directors. Ms. Glaub’s 30-year career in leadership positions with drug development and technology companies will bring strong company-building and business strategy experience to the Codexis board.

John Nicols, President and CEO of Codexis, said, “It is with great pleasure that Codexis welcomes Kathy to its board of directors. Her knowledge of drug development, substantial industry network, and hands-on corporate operational experiences are accentuated by her exceptional strategic and financial acumen and approach. We look forward to putting her strengths to work in continuing our efforts to drive Codexis toward profitable growth.”

Ms. Glaub commented, “I am excited to join the board of Codexis, particularly at this important time as highlighted by its recent ground breaking CodeEvolver® protein engineering license transaction with GSK. Codexis has a great, proven technology foundation, and I look forward to working with the management team and the board to advance Codexis’ key strategic initiatives to exploit the company’s platform capabilities in transformational ways.”

Ms. Glaub has recently been appointed as CEO of Afferent Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage biotechnology company that is developing treatments for respiratory and urologic disorders and chronic pain, where she has been a member of its board of directors since 2013. Prior to Afferent, Ms. Glaub served as President of Plexxikon Inc. and co-led the company for twelve years from 2001 to 2013. Ms. Glaub led the successful buyout of Plexxikon by Daiichi Sankyo in 2011 for nearly $1 billion. While at Plexxikon, Ms. Glaub developed and executed the company’s business and financial strategies, led and negotiated several financings as well as industry-leading partnership deals that generated $300 million in non-equity funding, and played a key role in building Plexxikon’s pipeline. Completing her experiences across the drug commercialization cycle, Ms. Glaub negotiated co-promotion rights and established a specialty sales force for the marketing of Zelboraf ®, Plexxikon’s first FDA-approved drug which is marketed with a companion diagnostic.

Prior to Plexxikon, Ms. Glaub served as Chief Financial Officer for Cell Genesys, where she led the company’s financial strategy, and played a pivotal role in key acquisitions as well as architecting the successful spin out of Abgenix. Previous to Cell Genesys, she was Treasurer of Genentech, and held various financial and treasury roles at Intel Corporation where she began her career. Ms. Glaub received her BA from the University of California, Berkeley, and her MBA from Northwestern University.

About Codexis, Inc.

Codexis, Inc. is a leading developer of biocatalysts for pharmaceutical and fine chemical production. Codexis’ proven technology enables scale-up and implementation of biocatalytic solutions to meet customer needs for rapid, cost-effective and sustainable process development – from research to manufacturing. For more information, see www.codexis.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements relating to Codexis’ ability to achieve profitable growth in its biocatalyst business. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements because they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that are, in some cases, beyond Codexis’ control and that could materially affect actual results. Factors that could materially affect actual results include Codexis’ dependence on a limited number of products and customers in its pharmaceutical business; Codexis’ ability to develop and commercialize new products for the pharmaceutical markets; Codexis’ relationships with, and dependence on, its collaborators in its principal markets; Codexis’ ability to deploy its technology platform in new market spaces; the success of Codexis’ customers’ pharmaceutical products in the market and the ability of such customers to obtain regulatory approvals for products and processes; and Codexis’ pharmaceutical product gross margins are variable and may decline from quarter to quarter. Additional factors that could materially affect actual results can be found in Codexis’ Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 13, 2014, including under the caption “Risk Factors.” Codexis expressly disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law.